Students have a lot
on the ball

By Lauren Fritsky
Times Staff Writer

She’s just 16 years old, but Sarah Burg plans to go to college this summer.
The Lawncrest resident attends Girls High School and participates in the Women in Sciences (WINS) program presented by the Academy of Natural Sciences. For the last two years, Burg has kept busy after school by getting hands-on experience in science subjects and careers, even working on some exhibits at the museum.
At first, some tasks were mundane, but Burg has now graduated to "working more with the butterflies and the dinosaur exhibit," she says.
Her hard work and passion for science have paid off — Burg will head to Smith College in Massachusetts on a scholarship for a summer science internship.
The academy is not the only institution that encourages careers in the sciences and keeps kids out of trouble at the same time. Others include the Franklin Institute, the Please Touch Museum and the Philadelphia Zoo.
On June 13, the Franklin Institute hosted Students Making a Difference, a ceremony to recognize all of the programs and the students and organizers who keep them thriving.
"These are rich programs for kids," said Carol Parssinen, senior vice president of the Center for Innovation in Science and Learning at the institute.
The institute runs Partnerships for Achieving Careers in Technology, a year-round science enrichment and mentoring program for middle and high school students in the district. The group also participates in robotics competitions.
The Please Touch Museum’s Achievement through Community Service, Education and Skill-building, or ACES, targets students in grades nine through 12 attending inner-city Philadelphia high schools.
The Junior Zoo Apprentice Program offers area teens, some of them underserved, hands-on experience in careers in science and animal biology.
Abhishek Patel, 15, attends Northeast High School and participates in the zoo apprentice program.
He has helped clean up Fairmount Park and build a trail, and could even take a trip to Africa next year. More than 90 percent of JZAP participants go on to college and more than half of them pursue careers in the sciences, according to program officials.
"It’s really fun," Patel said. "There are kids from all over the city."
Holmesburg resident Sharice Grant, 16, also participates in the Women in Sciences program through Girls High School. She says it’s sometimes difficult to juggle schoolwork, the program and other duties, but she thinks WINS is teaching her lifelong skills.
"Personally I think (multi-tasking) is hard, but in the future we’re going to have to do it," she said.
The two-phase program includes classroom lectures, science experiments and field trips designed to help female students explore the intricate relationships among plants, animals and humans and the environment. Students in the second phase get to explain museum exhibits, do scientific research or accept college internships like Burg has done.
Najwa Smith, who heads Community Perspectives in Education for the Academy of Natural Sciences, said 50 to 60 young women participate in the 25-year-old program each year. WINS often offers them more in-depth, absorbing science education than they receive in their schools.
"It’s something to engage them," Smith said. ••
Reporter Lauren Fritsky can be reached at 215-354-3038 or lfritsky@phillynews.com